IELTS · Guides · October 24, 2026 · 4 min read
IELTS Writing Task 1 line graph: how to write it, with a band 7 sample answer
A line graph shows change over time: years along the bottom, a value up the side, one line for each country, product or group. It is the most common Academic Task 1 chart, and the easiest to plan, because the question is always the same: what went up, what went down, and how did the lines compare? You have about 20 minutes and need at least 150 words.
Before you write: three minutes of planning
- Read the labels. What is measured (percentage of households, millions of tonnes), over what period, and in what units. Mistakes with units cost marks quickly.
- Find the big picture. For each line, one word: rose, fell, stable, peaked, fluctuated. Then find the relationship between the lines: did one overtake another? Which was highest at the start and at the end?
- Group the lines. Two lines that rise together go in one paragraph; a line that behaves differently goes in the other. With one line only, split by time: the first half and the second half of the period.
Structure
| Paragraph | Content |
|---|---|
| Introduction | One sentence: what the graph shows, where, over what period. Paraphrase the task. |
| Overview | Two main features, no figures: the overall trends and the most striking comparison. |
| Details 1 | The first group of lines with key figures: start, end, peaks, crossings. |
| Details 2 | The second group, compared with the first. |
A model answer
Task: The line graph below shows the percentage of households in three countries that had solar panels between 2000 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1% | 6% | 9% | 14% | 22% |
| Germany | 2% | 12% | 13% | 13% | 15% |
| Poland | 0% | 1% | 2% | 8% | 19% |
The line graph compares the proportion of homes with solar panels in Spain, Germany and Poland over a 25-year period starting in 2000.
Overall, solar panels became more common in all three countries. Germany was the early leader, but its growth stalled after 2010, while Spain and Poland, which started more slowly, had both overtaken it by the end of the period.
In 2000, solar panels were rare everywhere, found in just 2% of German homes, 1% of Spanish homes and almost none in Poland. Germany then saw a rapid rise to 12% by 2010, after which the figure levelled off at around 13% for a decade, before edging up to 15% in 2025.
Spain’s figure, by contrast, rose steadily throughout the period, passing Germany in 2020 and reaching 22% in 2025, the highest of the three. Poland’s growth came late but was dramatic: the proportion was only 2% in 2015, yet it climbed to 19% within ten years, ending well above Germany.
163 words. The overview names the two main features without a single number. Each detail paragraph follows one story: Germany’s early lead, then the two countries that overtook it.
Language for line graphs
- Movement: rose, climbed, increased, grew; fell, dropped, declined, decreased
- Speed: sharply, rapidly, dramatically; steadily, gradually; slightly, marginally
- No change: levelled off, remained stable at, stayed at around, plateaued
- High and low points: peaked at, reached a high of, hit a low of, bottomed out at
- Up and down: fluctuated between 20% and 25%
- Crossings: overtook, passed, fell below, ended above
Vary verbs and nouns: rose sharply / a sharp rise in. And use the past tense for past years, will or is predicted to for projections.
Common mistakes
- Describing every point on every line. Pick the start, the end, peaks, lows and crossings.
- An overview with numbers, or no overview at all. The overview is what separates band 5 from band 6 and above in Task Achievement.
- Giving reasons. The graph does not explain why Germany’s growth stalled, so neither should you.
- Wrong units. Rose by 10% and rose by 10 percentage points are different. If the graph shows percentages, rose from 2% to 12% is the safe form.
Practise in the practice room
Write an answer and get band scores for all four criteria with comments:
The general structure and other chart types are in the Writing Task 1 guide. For charts with categories rather than time, see the bar chart guide.
Common questions
How many figures should I include? Enough to support each point: usually eight to twelve across the two detail paragraphs.
Should I write a conclusion? No. The overview does that job. A conclusion that repeats the overview only adds words.
What if the graph has five or six lines? Group them: the lines that rose, the lines that fell. Describe the extremes in detail and the middle lines briefly.
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